While Houston and Corpus Christi are leading the way in the burgeoning crude oil export industry, they could be surpassed by proposed plans to turn the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port into a “two-way LOOP” that ships out crude as well as receives it, FuelFix.com reports.
The LOOP is currently gauging customer interest for major crude exports. If successful, LOOP could make oil exports comparable to the nation’s growing LNG export industry. If the interest isn’t there, we’ll know the “ceiling on international demand for shale crude,” argues Sandy Fielden, Morningstar’s director of oil and products research.
“That ceiling could pose a greater constraint on future production than lower (oil) prices or OPEC production cuts,” she adds.
LOOP’s interest in oil exports is notable in part because it’s the only Gulf Coast terminal capable of handling the largest oil supertankers. The 36-year-oil LOOP only imports oil for now, carrying foreign oil to pipelines that ship it to refineries.
Exporting from LOOP would lower freight costs and allow for the blending of different crude grades to meet specific customer needs thanks to LOOP’s crude storage hub.
Another caveat is that a LOOP expansion could connect to the in-construction Bayou Bridge pipeline from Texas through Louisiana that’s being built by Phillips 66. The pipeline is set to receive oil from the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, giving Bakken crude oil—and even some Canadian oil—the opportunity to be exported from the Gulf Coast.
